Achievements

The pic with the cross...

This is the true symbol of my biggest achievement during many years.Some of you might recall that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog how my big dream is to climb the nearby mountain which I can see from my home but how this seemed to be impossible at that time. Time and time again I looked at it in awe, saying to myself: "Some day... some day...". This summer I already resigned and thought another year is gone and I did still not manage to do it. I didn't feel ready for this adventure. Too big was my fear to fail. But then, two weeks ago, my girlfriend said to me: "You know, you could do it. You would need time, but I'm sure you would be able to do it.". Words which wouldn't leave me anymore. They remained in my brains, screaming at me every day.... "YOU COULD DO IT!". And so I decided to try it. On a Thursday morning I packed my rucksack, put on my hiking shoe and started at 9am my adventure. The hardest part was the beginning. It was incredibly steep and every other minute a cow was blocking my way but I did not give up. An hour later I arrived at my first stop, a small cottage where I had a coffee. There was a signpost threatening with "Only for experienced hikers". Not exactly a matching attribute, and yet I wanted to give it a try. "You can always turn around", said the waitress; but this statement should be proved wrong later on. So I continued my journey, already 1400m above sea level, still 300 more to follow. As the path got more narrow and steeper and I crossed over a rock, holding on to iron rods, I asked my self: "How can I ever turn around now, there's no way I can cross this rock again.". There was only one way - up, up, up. I crossed at least five more solid rocks, holding on to chains, ropes, roots and others stuff. Two hours later I finally saw the cross at the top and endorphines were flooding through my body. An overwhelming feeling built up and I almost ran in the end. At 12.15 I achieved my goal. My goal to climb this mountain, a goal which was inside me for years. With incredible joy I looked over the flat which was lying 1300m below me and I said to myself. "It is true. One can really achieve everything if the will is big enough". And it was also these words which I wrote down to the book which was attached to the cross. Half an hour I spent 1703m above sea level and I remembered how were in Zermatt a few years ago, 1600m and I could hardly walk without catching breath. Something really has changed. I chose another way down which was a bit less steep but still very difficult. After 5.5 hours I finished my tour. I had achieved my goal. A goal for which I was more than happy to suffer for three days from the sorest muscels ever.. :)

The pic with the sherpa..

..is another confirmation of my current situation. Fun parks where you climb between trees became very trendy in Switzerland recently. You recieve all the equipment you need to walk from platform to platform. Sometimes it's pretty difficult and it's a mental and physical challenge. You have to use every muscle in your body, kind of a full body work out in nature. Since I was unsure whether I can really do this without annoying all the people following behind me, we went there on a Monday afternoon. Already after the first few meters, I was confident that I could actually do this. We spent three hours in the trees and I felt like a chimp... (and champ) :) In the end I was incredibly happy and I achieved another goal. And again - my muscles were aching like hell the next day.

Lust auf Leben...

..is German for "Enjoy living", or something the like. It's basically the words which describe best how it feels to achieve these kind of goals. The last few weeks encouraged my feeling that my current physical state is not only stable but that the curve is really slightly pointing upwards. The only minor setback was another lung check in the hospital. My FEV1 is still lingering somewhere at 30% BUT and there are many BUTS: I finally managed to get rid of prednisolone, after eight years. No more prednisolone... my doctor said "I honestly didn't think that you would ever get off that." And there's something else which I could get rid off. The extra oxygene. Since 2008 I had this terrible machine which I mostly used during the night and sometimes to exercise on the home trainer. In the hospital I had my blood checked for oxygene and CO2 Levels. Apparently these numbers were so good, that my doctor agreed that I don't need this any longer. I immediately returned it the next day and there's a nice Little side effect. My electricity bill will be much lower next year:) Furthermore the densitiy of my bones increased heavily. At some parts even by 14% and it's almost on a normal Level.

Time for a little summary? Since 16 months I've been taking Kalydeco and the effects are mind blowing: No infections, no IV therapies, not a single day sick, no more prednisolone, no extra oxygene, improved O2 saturation, lower heart rate, improved bone density... I really can't add anything here. This development does not need any further coment. And if the lung function really does not want to improve, I can live with that... and I "enjoy living" more than ever...